Okay...I promised a post on our floor bed and the whole deal with floor beds in general. Honestly right now as I start this post I don't know a ton about them. Staci does because friends of her's have used them and she read the book Montessori from the Start...plus it follows tenets of the Montessori philosophy which she teaches. I've absorbed some of the info from her and such but we'll learn together as I wade through some websites.

That all being the case think of this as a Cliffs Notes version of floor beds...and I have learned from experience that teaches are correct that you can't pass the test by reading the Cliffs Notes alone.

It's easy to explain what it is...just a crib mattress on the floor. You can add a floor bed frame, which is a 3 sided wood frame, but people we've talked to see them as a waste and a place for shins to bang into. You also need to set up the room so it's a completely safe place...every thing at reach is age appropriate...hide stray cords and all around baby proof the room and place a baby gate at the door.

We found it a bit hard to design a room aesthetic around a floor bed as we're used to matching furniture to cribs...and height of shelves and such are therefore taller.

The why of floor beds is harder to explain. Basically it allows the child to explore his/her environment on their own.

When a child can roam free and explore their whole environment he/she really gets a good sense of who they are in the world which helps him/her gain self confidence. It allows the child to satisfy it's need for tactile stimulation from their environment.

Not only does it help children get a great sense of independence, it can keep parents from having to get up early while the child cries to get out of a crib...I like this part. A child can go to sleep and get out of bed at will. Once up the child keep him/herself occupied in it's safe environment while the parents know the child is OK and confined to the room via the baby gate.

If you use a floor bed you should transition around the same time you are planning on putting the baby in a crib, so after a bassinet, moses basket etc. It's really just used instead of a crib.

The most frequently asked question is what happens if the baby falls out of the bed. The mattress is about 4-5 inches high and once they are able to wiggle themselves out of the bed they are okay with the tiny drop. I've seen pictures of children sleeping halfway on the bed and half on the floor. Again it's not really a problem.

Mandy....I added the transition point to my post. It's the same time you'd move to a crib. But I'm assuming you can transition after a crib because really it's the same a a regular bed but without a frame or box spring.

Kenny,Good job on explaining the floor bed. If your followers want more simple and inexpensive ways to "Montessorize" their homes, they should check out IN A MONTESSORI HOME. The DVD and accompanying booklet are great resources for parents on how to prepare your home environment for a child - and I'm not just saying that because Ian and I are the stars in the video...

Hey- We've been using a floor bed with our bebe and have, for the most part, loved it! We can lay with her and read books, snuggle before bed, nurse her etc... Plus, she really does wake up and hang out happily with her books and toys. HOWEVER! Our 7 month old is very mobile and at nap time becomes very interested in everything, but napping. What strategies did you use to get your little one to stay in bed to nap? I have tried to just let her be and not feel the need to soothe her to sleep before every nap, but she ends up playing and not sleeping. Any ideas?

We don't have the same problem with Miloh wanting to play instead of nap, but recently he hasn't wanted to nap in general...he starts crying when we leave. So now what we do is put him in the bed, curl up next to him and rub his head or side until he goes to sleep (about 5 minutes.)

I think one of the reasons it works well is because we kind of block his view of everything around, by lying next to him, and because he gets soothed.

Kenny,Good job on explaining the floor bed. If your followers want more simple and inexpensive ways to "Montessorize" their homes, they should check out IN A MONTESSORI HOME. The DVD and accompanying booklet are great resources for parents on how to prepare your home environment for a child - and I'm not just saying that because Ian and I are the stars in the video...